Chapter 236

Chapter 236

“Are you alright, Dinah?”

Seeing Deatrice’s pale face, everyone who encountered her offered brief comfort and moved on. She smiled as if she were fine, took her seat, and began to serve, adjusting her apron.

Lucius and Young Lady Boviki chatted separately while observing them. Deatrice tried not to look at them, but it was difficult not to turn her head towards Lucius, not just because of his tall stature and bright blonde hair.

She was repeatedly drawn to his subtle smile and the way he tilted his head towards the woman beside him, listening intently with a smile that hinted at amusing conversation. Her heart ached.

“It was a mistake. I shouldn’t have come.”

She thought so.

She would have been better off staying alone in her room, missing him.

Focusing on him constantly, getting hurt by Lucius’ gentle demeanor toward strangers would have been better off not being seen.

Deatrice closed her eyes and thought. They wouldn’t stay long anyway. Even Young Lady Boviki next to him couldn’t hide her boredom already. Lucius seemed to enjoy talking, but standing always surely made his legs ache.

“I am right. Those two are definitely planning to get married, aren’t they?”

Brian whispered to the person next to him. The words also reached Deatrice’s ears. Of course, whether the words were true wouldn’t change anything. Even if it weren’t Vivian, eventually, after the marriage was annulled, Lucius would remarry. He would forget her and meet someone else to start anew.

It would be hard for Deatrice, but Lucius and his second lover would surely be happier. Because they wouldn’t have such a messy past like hers. They would finally break free from this cruel cycle of causing and receiving hurt.

So, this was nothing.

Deatrice tried hard to convince herself.

Whether Lucius was doing such things to show her or if he genuinely liked that woman, it had nothing to do with her. Deatrice tried hard to think so.

But when Lucius distributed all the food without moving a muscle and then made such an proposal with a soft smile, she almost stood up and left right then and there.

“I heard that you’re distributing pre-prepared food to those who find it difficult to move. May I join in? I really want to help.”

While distributing the food without even flinching, chatting with Young Lady Boviki, and then suddenly offering to carry food, it was a surprising move to everyone.

Everyone assumed they would leave soon, just like Deatrice did. Young Lady Boviki looked at Lucius with a bewildered expression as if she never expected him to do such a thing.

Lucius turned to Vivian with his characteristic affectionate smile.

“Is it hard, Young Lady Boviki?”

Who could resist such a smile?

Vivian eventually smiled back and replied, “Of course not!”

***

So Vivian found herself, like any rural woman, holding a smelly lunchbox in her arms and walking through the muddy path.

The silk shoes Vivian wore were certainly not made for walking. Seeing the pink silk shoes and the ribbon in the middle getting dirty hurt just as much as if she had been the servant assigned to clean the mud off later.

Standing for hours had already made her legs ache, and now she had to carry the lunchbox and personally deliver it to smelly people.

Of course, Vivian wasn’t entirely heartless. She was even praised for her broad-mindedness lately, though that was only possible when she wasn’t the one suffering.

But wasn’t it too much to endure, not only walking through mud but also encountering dirty people instead of strolling through the shops or going on a date?

Vivian grumbled a bit, but as Lucius approached, she couldn’t help but smile.

“Please give it here. Oh, those shoes… Are you alright?” Lucius took the load from Vivian, looking down at her with a concerned expression. Feeling all her irritation dissipate, Vivian leaned closer to Lucius and started to chat cheerfully.

“Of course, I’m fine. Our housemaid has excellent skills. She can make anything look like new. If Elliott ever has dirty clothes or shoes, just leave them at our house. We owe him a lot, so it’s the least we can do to help.”

“It’s alright.” Lucius replied with a gentle smile, “You don’t have to worry about owing anyone anything. If you can help, that’s more than enough.”

Vivian’s cheeks flushed a healthy crimson color. With limited experience in social circles, she often interpreted the meaning behind someone’s words based on her own emotions.

While Lucius’s words could simply be courteous, she interpreted them as full of determination, thinking about how beautiful his eyes were, how gentle his smile was.

And just a few steps away from them, Deatrice couldn’t help but overhear Brian and the students whispering, “Look, something’s not right between those two, isn’t it?”

“Are you alright?”

Rosalynn approached Deatrice, who was walking a bit apart. Since hearing about Lucius’s arrival, Rosalynn hadn’t once come separately to ask Deatrice how she was or if she needed anything. She knew some consolations only added to the burden.

But now, in the distance, Lucius was chatting away with a much younger lady, and Deatrice followed along without showing any discomfort. It was obvious that Lucius still hadn’t forgotten about her.

Rosalynn vividly remembered the sight of Lucius watching her leave with Deatrice’s burden that day. Just as if she were Deatrice herself, or rather, as if the clothes in the trunk were Deatrice’s embodiment, Lucius’s resentful gaze lingered on Rosalynn even as she rode away in the carriage, until they were far from the mansion.

At that moment, his gaze seemed to promise, “If you leave now, I’ll never look for you again.”

But only Rosalynn knows just how insignificant that promise was. Now, still fussing over the young lady who remained quiet, wasn’t it the other way around?

Pitiful Deatrice offered a faint smile and shook her head. Rosalynn couldn’t tell if it meant she was okay with it or not.